Greg and I have been friends since 1982!

Greg Nelson • Low light, high speed color film. A handball court in a neighborhood park in San Diego.

Greg and I have been friends since 1982! Greg, John Hughes, Kennon Jones*, Roy Bottger, and I shared a house at the south end of Date Avenue in La Mesa, CA. “The Ranch!” The house was a 4-bedroom ranch-style house on a hillside overlooking an undeveloped canyon and the Spring Street I-94 interchange. I think this was before the Trolley from Downtown San Diego came up Spring Street north towards downtown La Mesa. I lived in La Mesa several years later and took the trolley to my job at The Photo Factory in Downtown San Diego.

I worked there doing mural prints. We made prints sized from 24″ to 4′ wide and up to 8′ or slightly longer. We did panels vertically up to 8′ tall and several panels wide. That was quite the job.

I could tell a lot of stories about the times we had living there. Spaghetti dinner with Sean, Greg, and Ken. John’s dinner parties and dishes were left on the kitchen counter for a week. Ken, wet grass, the lawn mower, a downhill slope, and a trip to the E.R. “Thank you for thanking me!” “I’m not asleep!” “I’m task-oriented!” The couple that stayed with us for a week, which turned into months, forging my signature to get phone service. Birkland from Kirkland… Danette, Kelly, Joleen, Coleen, Robin, June, Marian, Linda…

But this is supposed to be about Greg… The thing is that friends have back stories, and Greg, John, and I share a lot of those. We have lost track of Kennon Jones, and Roy Bottger got married and moved on. Then there was the other guy who moved in and took over too many things. I won’t comment on that!

Back to Greg… Greg got into photography because we did road trips, driving around San Diego County, taking back roads, and looking for things to photograph. Greg has driven a lot over the last few decades, first while working at La Mesa RV, then as a long-haul trucker, and finally driving for Wal-Mart. I admire Greg’s work ethic, doing whatever comes along to pay the bills and support his family. Greg has a great eye. I’ll have to bug him for some examples of his photography!

When Greg was in Casa Grande in 2009, the same time John was visiting, I launched a surprise for John. I told John there was a restaurant I wanted to go to in Casa Grande. We drove west on I-10, and when we were between Picacho and Casa Grande, I told John I had to stop and use the bathroom. We got out of my Suzuki and headed to the bathrooms. Partway there, Greg walks up to John with his ballcap covering most of his face and looking down. “Man, can you spare some change so I can get some food?” John starts to reply, and Greg looks and says, “Got you, John!” That was a great day! I love to do things like that. John was totally surprised.

Greg’s Trans AM

Turning 30

Greg & John

* If anyone reads and knows Kennon (Ken) Jones, let me know. Kennon and Greg met in Redding, CA. When we lost track of Ken worked as a project manager for a construction company in San Diego. I believe he worked in Las Vegas several years ago doing the same job. I’ve searched for Ken several times over the years, using WhitePages and other websites, and sent letters to addresses I found, but nothing. I’ve contacted his former employer and others in San Diego as well, with no results that way either.

Dinner with Greg

Greg Visits Tucson

Greg & John